THE newsfeeds from the US seem to be completely insane. First, an F22 Raptor, the most expensive US military aircraft, is used to shoot down a Chinese balloon over the Atlantic ocean. Three more "unidentified flying objects" – definitely not balloons are shot down in three days, two over the US and one over Canada.

THE 10th all India conference of the All India Agricultural Workers Union (AIAWU) began on February 15, at Sarat Sadan, Jyoti Basu Nagar (Howrah) in West Bengal. Amidst slogans of ‘Inquilab Zindabad’, AIAWU president A Vijayaraghavan hoisted the union’s flag. Before the flag hoisting, five torch-marches reached the venue and handed over the martyrs’ torches to the all India leadership of the union and to the reception committee of the conference.

THE recent appointment of six new governors by the president of India has revealed a lot about how the post of governor is viewed and cynically misused by the Modi government.The appointment of Justice S Abdul Nazeer, who had retired from the Supreme Court just two months ago, as the governor of Andhra Pradesh is an egregious example of how the Modi government distributes this sinecure post.

Below we publish the statement issued by the Communist Party of Turkey on February 8.OUR country and neighbouring Syria have faced a massively destructive earthquake. We are in deep grief and very sorry to inform you that the destruction and damage caused by the earthquake seems quite massive.For brief information: The main earthquake of 7.7 magnitude occurred in the east of our country at 4:17.  Severe aftershocks continue. Some of them are even difficult to be called as aftershocks.

IN early February, the United States government announced that it would be exercising a 2014 agreement with the Philippines to set up new bases on Luzon Island, at the archipelago’s north. These bases will likely hold aircraft capable of striking targets in China, including around the vicinity of Taiwan. US defence secretary Lloyd Austin met with Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, Jr., in Manila to discuss final elements of the agreement.